Wednesday, January 13, 2010

A review of tonight's "Friday Night Lights" coming up just as soon as I'm due for a rinse...

"So my question to you is, do you really want to make a difference, or are you just feeling sad because you saw a boy get shot?" -Elden"Both." -Eric

I had an interesting conversation with "Scrubs" creator Bill Lawrence yesterday, in which he admitted that some of the creative problems with this season came from his attempt to treat it as a brand-new show with a few familiar characters, when viewers were looking on it as the latest year for an old favorite. Had he realized in advance how the show would be perceived, he would have written certain characters (notably Zach Braff's) differently.

I think this season of "Friday Night Lights" works whether you look at it as year four of "FNL" or year one of a spin-off in which the Taylors, Landry and Riggins wind up on the east side of town. But watching an episode like "The Lights of Carroll Park" made me think Bill's onto something about how people view new shows versus old ones.

As mentioned in several previous reviews this year, Jason Katims and company have had to serve several masters at once in saying goodbye to Saracen, preparing to see off Landry and Julie (and, as I'll discuss below, Riggins) and establishing this new world of East Dillon and all its residents. With so much ground to cover, shortcuts inevitably have to be taken, and so far it feels like some of the newbies have been the main victims. There's a lot of pre-existing history between Jess, Vince and Jess's father Virgil (aka Big Mary), but because we don't know all the details - and because the show hasn't had the time to fill in the gaps - we have to guess a lot.

And yet watching the scenes with the three characters in this one made me think back to the beginning of the series. We entered into the middle of these characters' lives, and there was already a long history among Street, Lyla, Riggins and Tyra. Some was made explicit (Lyla basing her entire life on following Street around), some strongly-implied (the dysfunctional, on-again, off-again nature of the Tim/Tyra relationship), some only hinted at (the reasons for Lyla's distrust of Tyra), but because it was a new show, we went with it, and very soon the present-day storylines were outweighing the pre-show history we never got to witness.

It's hard to view the East Dillon characters in the exact same way, because they're surrounded by people like Eric and Landry, whom we know so well by this point in the series. But when I took a step back and tried to see this as midway through "East Dillon Lights" season one, I was able to make allowances for what we don't know about Vince and Jess's relationship, their break-up, why Big Mary distrusts Vince, etc., etc. After all, even in the early days, "FNL" wasn't always perfect at servicing all the characters - in between when she broke up with Riggins and when she became Julie's BFF, Tyra practically disappeared from the show - and it's clear that more of an effort is being made in these post-Saracen episodes to make Vince and company important to the show's future.

So we see Vince trying to better himself by looking for a legit job instead of boosting cars, and - in a great duet between Michael B. Jordan and Kyle Chandler that showed how much each man is opening up to each other - asking Coach to be a reference on job applications. And we see Jess moving on to Landry while still coping with Vince's presence in her life - and Vince deciding, ultimately, that the team matters more to him than his feelings of jealousy, when he declines to pick a fight with Lance before the Carroll Park game.

It's not all clean and neat - the show skips over Big Mary's conversion from the guy who in early episodes had no use for the football team to the guy willing to let his daughter's hated ex-boyfriend work at the family restaurant as a favor to Coach - but there is definite, intriguing progress.

And if the new season/series had to rewrite the show's old universe in order to invent this seedy side of town that Eric seems barely aware of, the creation of East Dillon has paid real storytelling dividends, never more than in "The Lights of Carroll Park." We see an Eric out of his depth in this world, not just as the coach of a losing team, but as a privileged white man in a predominantly black, poor, crime-ridden part of town. Until now, he's been looking at how he can get the town to support the team. But when he stumbles across a seemingly senseless shooting at Carroll Park, he realizes that the relationship has to work both ways - that East Dillon can be inspired by the Lions just as much as the Panthers provide solace for folks on the west side of town.

And where Buddy, with all his talk of "taking back the park," is looking at this like the conquering hero he thinks he is for the Lions, Eric's goals are more modest (to get the lights turned back on), empathetic and self-aware. He knows he's still just a visitor to this part of town, but he also understands about people in need no matter where they live or what their skin color is, and so he'd like to help - even if, as he admits to Elden, it's partly out of guilt for seeing the kid get shot.

After the trouble Vince had with his criminal ex-friends at the BBQ place, I feared that the pick-up game between the Lions and the street team would turn ugly. Instead, it was exactly what Eric wanted it to be: a feel-good event for both his team and the kids who hang at the park, something that (like the Mud Bowl in season one) could just remind everybody of the fun of football for a night, without all the pressure and headaches that usually accompany the game in this town.

And as Eric was doing his good deed for the week at the park, Kyle Chandler also got to play some of his funniest scenes of the series as Glenn confesses his "Wow, my mouth is on Tami Taylor's mouth" moment to Coach. The glazed, horrified look on Chandler's face throughout that scene was hysterical, as were the Jack Nicholson laugh and the threat implied in "Oh, I'll see you sooner than that." Other than some missteps in season two, the writers have always had a firm handle on the Taylor marriage, so I wasn't worried this would cause a real problem - and sure enough, while Eric was annoyed Tami didn't tell him, there was never a suggestion he was mad at her for what happened. Instead, it turned into a running joke, letting Eric suggest that he had now, by proxy, kissed Glenn, and then letting Tami react to Eric canceling their "date" by offering to call Glenn. (Eric: "You call Glenn, you make sure he doesn't drink all my scotch.") The Taylors don't get their at-home date, but they do get to enjoy a nice moment together by the lake the morning after the Carroll Park game, and we know that things will always work out well between them, unlike the divorcing McCoys.

Becky's situation is much dicier - for the character, and the show.

Before we go any further, I want to remind you of the No Politics section of the commenting rules and to make clear that any attempt to turn the comments into a referendum on abortion itself will not be tolerated, no matter what your views are on the subject.

I want to only discuss it in the context of Becky's story, and of how TV generally deals with abortion - which is to say, awkwardly.

Because opinions on either side of this debate run so hot, it's incredibly rare that a pregnant TV character will ever actually get an abortion. They might think about it, but in the vast majority of cases, they'll either go ahead with the pregnancy or the writers will cop out by causing a miscarriage. (Two notable exceptions, but not the only ones: Bea Arthur had one on "Maude" in the '70s, but that was before positions were quite as stratified as they are now, and at a time when network shows actually had more freedom to be politically adventurous; and Claire Fisher on "Six Feet Under," but that's on a pay cable channel that doesn't have to worry about appeasing sponsors.)

We've had two unplanned young pregnancies on "FNL" so far - first with Street's waitress one-night stand, now with Becky - and in both cases the father has either argued strongly in favor of having and keeping the baby (Street) or at least expressed deep unease with an abortion (Luke). These are perfectly reasonable positions for these characters to have, given what we know of them (particularly Street, with the miracle conception), but I always find it hard with these stories to separate what's consistent for the characters with the pressure the writers are under from outside forces. These episodes debut on DirecTV, but they do eventually have to air on NBC, and when Luke tells Becky he's not comfortable with this, all I can do is think of someone in Standards & Practices drafting a cautionary memo to Katims, you know?

Madison Burge and the writers have made Becky the most clearly-established of the four new characters this season, and I can understand how she might wind up accidentally repeating her mother's history, even though I was surprised to realize she had sex with Luke after she ran into him at the liquor store in "The Son." But I'm wary of where this story goes over the rest of the season.

Some other thoughts:

• As soon as I saw Larry Gilliard Jr. as Elden, my heart sang, because it meant for sure, I thought, a scene between Elden and Vince - and a "Wire" reunion between D'Angelo and Wallace. But though the two characters were both part of the big group scene at Carroll Park, they never had any one-on-one interaction, and when I asked Katims about it at press tour a few days ago, he said for now Elden is a one-episode character. I then laid some "Wire" guilt on him, and he sheepishly offered to find an excuse to bring him back and put him with Vince; I'll be disappointed if he doesn't.

• Two other bits of "FNL" news from press tour: 1)NBC originally wasn't going to air this season until summer, but because they're about to have five hours of primetime to fill after the Olympics - which is also the exact point when DirecTV's exclusivity window lapses - there's a chance the episodes could turn up on free TV sooner rather than later. Based on a conversation I had with Angela Bromstad, I'm guessing not - the season three NBC ratings were really, really pitiful - but this is a desperate network without a lot of inventory lying around. 2)Katims (who was here to promote "Parenthood") told TV Guide that Taylor Kitsch won't be a regular next season because of his budding movie career. I love Kitsch, and I think Riggins' story this year (until the chop shop story, at least) has helped capture what life is like for a former football hero who's not ready/able to move on to college, but I also know his absence (or diminished presence) will allow Katims to focus more on the high school kids.

• Speaking of Riggins, my recollection from the end of last week's episode is that Becky kissed Tim - his mistake was not pulling away fast enough - where in his apology here, he suggested he was the one who kissed her. Can we get a ruling?

• After being in a hurt, angry shell for the post-Saracen episodes, Julie finally gets a bit of happiness with her new Habitat For Humanity boyfriend. A welcome, needed development for the character, even if her moping made sense given recent events.

• The McCoys have occasionally bordered on cartoon villains this season, but D.W. Moffatt was very good at playing a defeated Joe McCoy, coping with the end of his marriage and the realization that his behavior with JD - focusing on football to the exclusion of all else, moving the family to Dillon, the violent, controlling temper - may have driven his wife away and turned his son into a punk. I've been assuming the season will climax with the Lions beating the Panthers and giving Eric some karmic retribution over Joe and Wade. Depending on what's done with Joe over the next few episodes, revenge may not feel quite so sweet; the guy's already suffering the consequences of his actions.

• Though the episode begins with Eric venturing to Carroll Park to look for Tinker, Tinker himself barely figures into the episode, and doesn't seem to get in much trouble for missing school and/or practice.

• Okay, now that the character has been referred to on-screen as Calvin, I guess I have to retire the Angry Necklace Guy nickname. Faretheewell, ANG...

• So, should we expect to see Maurice from the street team suiting up for the Lions in season five?

• Has anyone kept track of how many season four episodes have featured a football game? And how that compares to season one? This is the second bye week the Lions have had so far, and I can think of a couple of other episodes whose timespan didn't include Friday night. There's still plenty of football focus, don't get me wrong - this isn't like when the writers tried to downplay the team during season two - but it feels like the Lions have had a bunch of weeks off from playing a real game.

41 comments:

So here's my quick take on Becky: I don't really care, abortion or not. (It's TV.) But the one thing that I don't like is that whatever drama comes from this will take away from the stories of the main folks. I just don't feel like Becky has brought a lot to the table thus far. There's a lot of potential story at the end here for characters I'm way more interested in.

As to Larry Gilliard's appearance, well, as I told you earlier today, I'm not sure I've been this excited/surprised by a cameo on a show in quite a while. In this day and age of "SO AND SO CAST FOR APPEARANCE ON X SHOW" it was nice to NOT know he was coming to Dillon. Over/under on number of times people said "Where's Wallace!?" when searching for Michael B. Jordan that week is probably 12.

It's funny, because couldn't you see where Vince and Elden are as sort of bizarro world DeAngelo and Wallace?

Alan - this has nothing to do with Friday Night Lights but I don't know where else to post it - have you ever thought of creating your dream prime time schedule consisting of your favorite shows from the past 10+ years - you can program any show you want in any time period & it would give your readers an alternate reality viewing schedule - better than any network!

Becky would need a lot less help from Luke paying for an abortion if she hadn't dropped $50 or more on home pregnancy tests.

I have my worries about next season right now. Vince and Becky have been fairly well fleshed out but Jess has been little more than a prop for Vince and Landry stories and Luke a bit of a cypher. I hope over the remaining episodes the two of them develop more depth.

Sorry, I don't really care about the whole Becky storyline. The only reason I don't fast forward her scenes is because Tim is in them. I really don't see how we are suppose to care about Becky when Tim is gone. I don't know where the writers are going with this but she and Luke have zero chemistry.I really like the Vince character and the relationship he is building with coach.Also, suprisingly enjoyed Julie's Habitat storyline. Matt who? I am sure Matt will resurface as soon as she starts liking this other guy(they always do, LOL!)I am finding it really hard to get invested in these characters when you know the show will be over next season.

At first I thought the actress who played becky was just like becky, sort of like a lindsay lohan hilary duff kind of actress, and this may still be true but I think this story line is genius! She plays a hysterical teen like a pro, she's naive and indecisive and stubborn, if she's really tapping into this character and making you all dislike it then you need to realize she's doing her job. I think this shows just how great of a guy luke is, he's handling everything so well and I think thats what becky needs right now. See the bigger picture, she snagged riggins and now one of the best players on the team, I think if they mature her as the show progresses that would be a great transformation or her. But seeing as julie has always remained a brat in a way I have no idea where that's going to go!All in all friday night lights always continues to suprise me. just when I start watching they make an episode that truly makes me tear up. There really isn't a show out there that targets viewers of all ages and sends a message. Being from a small town in texas, this is really how it is. Crime, towns revolved around their football team and just all the small issues. I thought i'd hate friday night lights once all the old characters, and i was even more convinced in the begining, but as always FNL shows how much of an underdog it is, continuing to win us viewers over.

FNL has always been about suspense, but still giving us what we want in every episode. What I would love to happen is both the Panther's and Lion's make dillon a force to be reckon with. Could you imagine? Of course we all want to see the panther's lose to the lions which I think may happen either this season or the next... but the legacy coach taylor would have! First with making saracen good enough to fill streets shoes and now having to not only start with a new team, it took him time to even get them all on his side! So if the show ends as both teams ending up going to state together or SOMETHING like it would be amazing. Have you all thought about that?

I don't comment often but I feel compelled to say that today's review was excellent. I had high hopes for season 4 and felt that the premise was fantastic. Those hopes were initially tainted by seeing some of the old characters return*, we gave a good farewell to Matt and Riggins. Given the restricted episode order valuable screentime was wasted fleshing out Matt's artist storyline that ultimately went nowhere.

All season something hasn't quite clicked for me and I think Alan you've put your finger on it. This is a new show merged with an old, and it doesn't work. Ultimately we've been shortchanged with the new characters, I've loved the little glimpses of Luke's homelife and find his dynamic with the old panthers really interesting. JD McCoy, especially could have done with more screentime. Actually watching his family break up would have added so much more to his character, he's going to be pretty prominent in the Dillon rivalry so it would've been great to blur those lines of perception, rather than just painting him as a pantomime villain. I feel we've barely scratched the surface with Jess and her father. And with the older ones* I don't feel like they ever had a full grasp on what they wanted to do with them. It's seems they just wanted them there as a safety net like baby needs its comfort blanket.

*The older characters I refer to are the pupils that should have graduated and left school, Riggins and Matt.

- One more little comment, loved seeing D'Angelo, although I ended up comparing the FNL dialogue to The Wire's and one should never do that. It just made me a little more aware that they're not handling the ghetto Dillon stuff as well they could and sometimes it shows they're a little out of their depth.

Since, on American television, the only possible outcomes for pregnancy stories are childbirth or miscarriage, I find Becky's story distracting and pointless - and annoying. Why put it in, realistic as teenage pregnancy is, when you already know how the story arc is going to go, and there can't really be an American TV viewer in 2010 who thinks Becky is going to have an abortion (and stay in the show as a character you're supposed to care about)?

It does give Riggins another opportunity to do the one-step-forward-into-adulthood three-steps-back-into-Rigginshood dance again, though.

the best ep they've had in a few weeks I think. Coach's "stare" at Glen had me on the floor. What an idiot this guy is - and he's teaching our kids, oh well.

I'm a little nervous about the abortion line - very dicy waters I think- but if anybody can do it well I think FNL can. Whichever way they go with it I'm fine with I just don't want it to turn into some psuedo after school special kind of thing. )As someone who married a woman whose mother AND older sister BOTH got pregnant young and had to get married I know this is a HUGE fear and embarrassment for Becky- I'm glad they brought that fear up. That's what makes me think they'll handle it well)

As for the kiss I think Becky initiated but Tim leaned in. I think in his conversation with Becky he's just trying figure out what's wrong. He also knows her well enough I think to know that in her squirrelly teenage girl mind she might very think he started it.

they're not handling the ghetto Dillon stuff as well they could and sometimes it shows they're a little out of their depth.

Huge Wire fan but I think I disagree - East Dillon ghetto is a whole nuther world from Baltimore ghetto. Can you imagine Coach walking around the apartment courtyard looking for one of his players and then asking McNulty "is this a bad neighborhood"?

Karen said: "Since, on American television, the only possible outcomes for pregnancy stories are childbirth or miscarriage, I find Becky's story distracting and pointless - and annoying. Why put it in, realistic as teenage pregnancy is, when you already know how the story arc is going to go, and there can't really be an American TV viewer in 2010 who thinks Becky is going to have an abortion (and stay in the show as a character you're supposed to care about)?"

(Especially if she lives in TEXAS.)

Yeah, I totally agree with this, and it's why I generally hate pregnancy storylines of this nature.

I think the best thing that could come out of the Becky storyline is Mama Smash? After all, she'd have to go to the Planned Parenthood where Mama Smash works, no matter what happens. I love me some Mama Smash!

Watching Riggins apologize to Becky made me realize how isolated he is. With Matt, Jason, and even Smash leaving, he doesn't really have anyone to hang out with except Billy. He knows he didn't kiss her, but I think he feels guilty cause he didn't pull away fast enough and she's too young.

If I ever get married, I'm making my future husband watch every episode of FNL with special focus on the Taylors as a preemptive form of marriage therapy.

I would think that being a first year football program, that there could be a handful of bye weeks. I went to a new high school that opened my junior year (they didn't take an incoming senior class), and I am thinking they only had a JV program that first season.

If memory serves right they've had 4 games so far. Judging by last season in which they did 6 games in the regular season they are right on track.I think the big difference is that everyone knows the Lions won't make the play-offs so they can have more time between games than with the Panthers.

I haven't teared up at all this season but there was a moment where it got a little dusty. The moment where Coach spots Maurice on Team Ghetto and asks him how old he is, would he like to play for him and to make sure he finds him next year was incredible. More than anything it was that scene that showed that this isn't a temporary stop for Eric Taylor, he's thinking ahead in many ways. He might have felt sad about the shot boy but he does want to help these kids (even the ones that aren't his yet)...and it will help his team long term :)

Also the scene between Coach and Vince in the office was incredible. SO much said with just eyes. Like Tami said, Eric is old and crotchety, there is no better way to describe him sitting there inflexible, legs on desk and giving Vince nothing. LOVED it.

Great episode. Lots of great little nuances, like the foreboding feeling before and during the football game that the writers/director created. The game action and music (and, like Alan said, the scene with ANG and crew) made you feel like the twist was Vince getting injured, until they broke the tension with Coach's wonderful and perceptive step of talking to Maurice. Really well done.

Also, call me a fool, but I'll trust the writers with to create a nuanced Becky storyline until they prove me wrong. I don't know if they'd throw this curveball with Becky (and Luke!) just to go for pat answers in the end. Maybe I'm too trusting. We'll just have to see.

And did you see Landry's throw and Coach's look afterwards? I think I read somewhere that Plemons was the only actor on FNL who actually played football in HS. Makes the choice to further marginalize him as a player this year (after his breakout performance on the Panthers last year) more curious (though it makes sense outside the universe of the show as a way to transition him off the show over time ... you need to put Vince and Luke front and center in the action as a bridge to next season).

And, despite the fact that I out-ed him on this blog as "Calvin Brown," he will always be ANG to me, too. Still holding out hope that he'll take time from the stolen car racket to rejoin the team as a pass rushing terror.

And, also, I am saddened by the apparent demise of Julie and Devin's budding friendship. Was strong enough to make Julie go to East Dillon and for Devin to ask Julie to join her maiden voyage to the gay bar, but when Julie's man leaves her, that Devin is nowhere to be seen, and we only see her caring about her music. Blast her!

I'm not from the US, so the abortion story line would play fine where I live. We don't get hung up on it as it appears they do in the US. But I do wish they'd showed more interaction between Luke and Becky, the pregnancy just seems out of the blue.

I didn't believe the Julie and new guy story line either, he seemed a bit goofy and not up to Mat's standard - but then so did the Swede in S2? I find it odd they haven't had a phone call from Mat to Julie - even one sided it would make for great drama and would bring some closure to their relationship, unless of cause he's coming back.

This great episode really completed the transition from the "old FNL" to the new at our house...Eric and Buddy no longer outsiders in East Dillon, Julie moving on from Sarasin, Vince firmly committed to staying straight and more fleshing out of the Jess and Big Mary characters. Becky, who we found incredibly annoying at first, has really grown on us. Only downside was that Riggins seemed little more than a prop in this one.

Any episode that gives quality time to the Coach/Tami relationship is always a winner and their interplay here was probably the best in Season 4 so far.

One more thought. With the McCoy split, what are the chances that one of the McCoy parents end up living on the East Dillon side of town thus paving the way for a Coach/JD reunion and run at the state championship in Season 5?

I think there is one other reason that writers shy away from abortions: because an unwanted pregnancy can make a good ongoing storyline. In "Scrubs," I would have been very disappointed if Kim had an abortion: not because of politics, but because I wanted to see immature JD try to go through all this with a woman he just met. I also was interested in Street's story and wanted to see that play out (though I know others disagreed). I'm not rooting for Becky to keep the baby as much as those other examples, but the writers would be giving up some interesting story possibilities by going the abortion route.

I think that Becky kissed Tim but Tim kissed her back and felt wrong about sending the message. It appears he has genuine feelings for her but does not want to overstep his bounds and mess up what has become a very important family-like relationship for him. That said, I wonder if this may become a real relationship down the line because they do have SUCH a foundation -- certainly the shots of them overlooking the 25 acres could have foreshadowed that.

This was a great episode, especially after the last two. Well, me not liking the last episode was probably due to being in the middle of my first-time watch of The Wire. And me liking this episode might be due to finishing The Wire and seeing Larry Gilliard Jr. pop up on here. That made me so happy.

I find pregnancy storylines kind of boring, and this is no exception. Also, there was that Everwood episode about abortion...